Day 39

Today's picture is my all-time favorite cookie recipe. It is simple, but delicious. My mom taught me this easy little recipe many years ago and I always go back to it. It is a quick solution to a sweet craving, without having to dig through the pantry for ingredients.

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Peanut Butter (I prefer extra crunchy)
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 Egg

Directions

Mix all ingredients together and then form into 1 inch balls. Use a fork to create a criss cross pattern. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 325 degrees. Remove from oven just as the edges start to turn golden brown.

Day 28

Today was a very busy day around the house! Unfortunately, my big nice camera just never made its way into the day. So today you are receiving a photo from my new cellphone. I am in love with this cookie recipe. I have been experimenting with changes/additions here and there and I think I have finally found the best mix.

Peanut Butter and Honey No-Bake Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 3 cups instant oatmeal, or more as needed
• 2 Tbsp Cocoa (I added this to the original recipe)

Directions

1. Combine the butter, milk, white sugar, brown sugar, cocoa and honey in a large pot over medium-high heat; bring to a rapid boil for 90 seconds. Stir the salt and peanut butter into the mixture and remove immediately from the heat. Add the oatmeal quickly and mix to combine. Make sure the texture is thick with a little bit of sauce, but not too much sauce. If needed add extra oatmeal.
2. Drop rounded spoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart onto aluminum foil or waxed paper; allow to sit 1 to 2 hours before serving.

Original recipe can be found here

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peanut-Butter-and-Honey-No-Bake-Cookies/Detail.aspx

Day 25

One of the best parts of working from home...having time to bake cakes! Luckily for me, my husband's favorite cake is also a simple yellow cake with milk chocolate icing. After icing this one, I felt like Huddy needed to represented as well, so I decorated it with his favorite cookies, fudge iced animal cookies.

I'm dreaming of...

I am dreaming of cookbooks. As I mentioned in a previous blog my Granny has an amazing cookbook collection. I would love to someday have a collection as expansive as hers. Of course she has a few years on me, but as you flip through the pages of her collection you can really see the love she has put into it over the years. Perhaps my favorite part of browsing her books is finding her little bookmarks. I always happen upon them and the tattered edges always cause me to smile. I know these pages have captured her attention, more than once.

My collection is still very small, actually incredibly small, I only have two cookbooks. This isn't a new interest for me, but it is an interest that I am just now beginning to explore. As a mom and a wife, I love cooking for my boys. It brings joy to my heart to watch them smile as I pull a pan of cookies out of the oven.

I am going to share with you my favorite cookbook, The $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook by Erin Chase. I seriously love this book. It is packed full of tips on how to save on your shopping trips, use coupons wisely, and overall how to effectively set a menu for your family.

(photo courtesy of http://www.5dollardinners.com)

Here is my challenge to you. If you are reading my blog and you love cookbooks, leave me a comment of your favorite cookbook. I am excited about starting my cookbook collection. I am only 24 and by the time I am my Granny's age, I hope to have a collection like hers. That gives me a little over 50 years of collecting.